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And the All-Christmas war begins!

This could be record-breaking early. Used to be stations went All Christmas crazy the day after Thanksgiving. Nielsen's Fall Rating Schedule dictates the move. https://www.rrconline.org/arbitron/schedules/surveySchedule.php The survey period ends December 4th. Compounded by Nielsen's newly adopted monthly reporting, going All Christmas, even this ridiculously early, makes sense. It's all about whether Women 25-55 and 35-64 dig it, and much to the consternation of upper demo male posters here, they do. The Breeze is crankin' out the All Christmas Hits too. Trans Siberian Orchestra at the moment.

What Buffalo radio stations benefit at this time as a result of two AC stations going All Christmas? WHTT? Jack FM? WYRK? WECK?

Here's Nielsen's official schedule http://www.arbitron.com/downloads/Survey_Schedule.pdf
 
I'll never understand how anyone can listen to Christmas music this early or for almost 2 months before Christmas.

First of all, as "music" goes ---in the way people use it to get themselves going---it's awful. Christmas music isn't good music, it's more of a sentimental experience. But for almost 2 months?

You'd have to be brain dead to want this. Then again, I said the same thing about electing Trump.
 
flybynight said:
I'll never understand how anyone can listen to Christmas music this early or for almost 2 months before Christmas.

First of all, as "music" goes ---in the way people use it to get themselves going---it's awful. Christmas music isn't good music, it's more of a sentimental experience. But for almost 2 months?

You'd have to be brain dead to want this. Then again, I said the same thing about electing Trump.
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I guess you have to be a typical suburban female-with-kids listener to "get it," which I have a feeling none of us regular posters are. The brain, when alive, is a mysterious thing. On the other hand, Trump voters fall into the dominant demographic (older white men) of RD posters much more frequently.
 
If you read some of the listener comments on various stations that have flipped to Xmas, it's polarizing. Many of their core Women Demos hate it. Most of the complaints say wait until Thanksgiving or play one Xmas song per hour.

It's all just smoke and mirrors anyway. The regular programming is so disposable that these stations don't hesitate to junk it for banal Xmas tunes. It probably does not effect the bottom line in any way. It just stirs up a little controversy and gets some pub(very little). Indifference and yawns are probably the most common reactions...
 
tbolt909 said:
If you read some of the listener comments on various stations that have flipped to Xmas, it's polarizing.
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More people take to social media to complain than to praise, especially on an annual tradition like Christmas music on their favorite radio stations. It's a dead certainty that not only do their regular listeners look forward to and enjoy this music, but, judging by the ratings, a large number of people who regularly listen to other stations do as well and make the market's "Christmas station" their favorite through the entire season.

If the listeners who either dislike Christmas music or think it should start later abandon the station for two months, that's fine. The station adds listeners from the audiences of stations that don't flip, and most of them are right in the advertisers' sweet spot.
 
DavidEduardo said:


And double digit shares.
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Maybe in some of the PPM markets. STAR in Buffalo doesn't ever come close to double digits and doesn't always get much of a Xmas bump.

Not sure that a temporary ratings spike is going to allow stations to gouge clients for a few more bucks...
 
DavidEduardo said:


And double digit shares.
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WTSS has gone down significantly each year for the past 5 years with this format. The music and the programming is a Nothing-Burger. Just whatever kind of holiday song mish mashed together with no thought. I was on air at STAR for 17 years, and I can tell you no thought goes into the programming, the imaging, or how the music is scheduled. When I was at WYRK on air for 10 years back from 86-96, Ken Johnson would be there until 5 in the morning making sure every single song had a purpose and that everything sounded incredible. If a jungle was fast, he would make sure a slow Christmas song did not come out of it. He hand picked everything and every song, and it worked. Now, it is just throw the music on, as long as it says something about the holidays and just play it without any concern to packaging it. It's horrible. When I want great holiday music, I go to Sirius. At least it is not just a mish mash of **** thrown together. In Buffalo it is LAZY programming.
 
Buddy Shula said:
When I want great holiday music, I go to Sirius. At least it is not just a mish mash of **** thrown together. In Buffalo it is LAZY programming.
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Have to agree.

Most x-mas music is awful by music standards. It's all about sentimentality...and how much of that can you take?

Hearing contemporary artists do old x-mas songs is gross to me. Like french kissing your grandma. Creeps me out. I take 102 & 96FM off my presets for 2 months.

The irony of course is that one of the best weeks for x-mas music is the week between x-mas and New Years...and BOTH of those stations are back to reg music on 12/26. Just odd.
 
96.1 The Breeze has gone to all Christmas tunes as well.

And I've already given Star the boot off my car's presets...saying hello(for now)to 105.1 the River in Niagara Falls.
 
Rob Piotrowski said:
Give ETM credit for at least acknowledging that not everyone wants all-Christmas by putting up a stream of their regular format.
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I have an even better idea: Since your actual product that your whole image is built around is the music you play the other 10 months of the year, why not put the Godawful x-mas music on a stream?
 
flybynight said:
I have an even better idea: Since your actual product that your whole image is built around is the music you play the other 10 months of the year, why not put the Godawful x-mas music on a stream?
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I would agree with that. The Lake format is streaming as well. That does not mean ETM did the right thing with ALT Buffalo 1.4 share
 
What other stations most closely offers a similar vibe as Star and the Breeze when they're in normal AC format? WYRK and WHTT. Expect they'll pick up more than a few quarter hours from listeners who don't want holiday tunes this early in the season.
 
You're "gouging" clients at a time of the year when they spend the most money. The ratings spike may be temporary, but the revenue counts.
 
SirRoxalot said:
You're "gouging" clients at a time of the year when they spend the most money. The ratings spike may be temporary, but the revenue counts.
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Charging more for greater audience size is not "gouging".

Gouging is taking advantage of a market situation, such as a shortage of generators during power outages, to arbitrarily, and with no added value, increase the price.

There is no shortage of ad media in any US market. And absent any incident of collusion, there is no gouging.
 
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